Posted on 11/27/2016 2:45:50 AM PST by BlessedBeGod
Two weeks ago, four cardinals published a so-called dubia — a set of questions, posed to Pope Francis, requesting that he clarify his apostolic exhortation on the family, “Amoris Laetitia...” Francis offered no reply...
...he produced a document, the as-yet-unclarified Amoris, that essentially talked around the controversy...
This indirectness matters because within Catholicism the pope’s formal words, his encyclicals and exhortations, have a weight that winks and implications and personal letters lack. They’re what’s supposed to require obedience, what’s supposed to be supernaturally preserved from error...
Francis...continued his practice of offering interviews and sermons lamenting rigidity and pharisaism and possible psychological issues among his critics — but who refused to take the straightforward-seeming step of answering their questions...
Either submission or schism will come eventually, he may think — but not till time and the operation of the Holy Spirit have weakened his critics’ position in the church...he thinks he’s being Machiavellian and strategic, but really it’s the Holy Spirit constraining him from teaching error...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Aren’t these the kinds of questions the cardinals should have considered and received answers for BEFORE making him a Pope?
The whole process of determining a Pope is supposed to be a God thing. God doesn’t make mistakes, so what went wrong?
What happens if the cardinals decide that he isn’t fit for the job? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this in my lifetime and don’t have a clue as to what would come next.
The question is whether we want a church that is small but very pure or one that large but stands for less. The second is the easier choice, but the first is, in my opinion, the only way to assure the long-run strength and health of the church.
Stand your ground on principle and that message will be seen. Do the opposite and the same applies. There is only one reckoning if you get what I mean. His word is His word and there is only one Heavenly Father, period. John 14:6
How soon is forgotten the words of Jesus in Luke 16 (18):
“Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.”
Whatever happened to dialogue?
They’re asking him to clarify a document that he wrote. They couldn’t have known before he was elected that he was going to attempt to allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion. Dubias are issued frequently for all sorts of issues. They’re just not usually directed at the Pope.
Oops, I should have responded to your second point too.
No, the Holy Ghost does not pick the Pope. The cardinals in the conclave are guided by the Holy Ghost but they can ignore Him... But everything happens for a reason. God will have good come out of this.
Maybe it is for the best. Ambiguity can be cleaned up by a later orthodox Pope, but heretical clarity issued by the Magisterium is more problematic.
They may not have known specifically what he would do, but I would venture to guess that these cardinals are not all that shocked by the shenanigans of the man sitting in the papal chair. I would also imagine that Bergoglio wouldn't have gotten their vote (assuming they were all eligible to vote at the time).
Went through this with The Episcopal Church, which abandoned the tenets of Christianity and millions of its (former) members. If the Roman Catholic Church stands for less, it will not become larger, it will get small, like TEC. If the RC Church remains firm, it will grow.
The problem now is that Bergoglio is not a.protector of the Church, but a destroyer. A big change needed is to not consider any pope infallible on matters of faith and doctrine, and also a means to remove him in circumstances of significant error, as applies with the squishy Socialist currently occupying the office.
“what’s supposed to be supernaturally preserved from error”
The Times needs to read up on the meaning of “ex cathedra” and when and how rarely it has been used. The last was declared by Pope Pius XII in 1950.
What’s more, a Pope cannot teach contrary to what Jesus taught.
I don’t think Jesus approves all these sinners taking titles such as “your eminence;”your holiness”;even ‘reverend’ may be too much.If “Teacher”was good enough for Him,then it is beyond vanity for poor mortals to have higher titles.
1 Timothy 6:15
which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
That would not be a "change," since the Church teaches that most of the time, the Pope's statements are not, per se, infallible even if they are on faith and morals.
In 2005 Pope Benedict XVI remarked, "The Pope is not an oracle; he is infallible in very rare situations, as we know". Pope John XXIII once stated it with a humorous twist: "I am only infallible if I speak infallibly but I shall never do that, so I am not infallible".
Here's what happens (LINK) if a pope tries to make an erroneous statement "as if" infallibly. Go ahead and click it's just 2 minutes, and you'll laugh.
"...and also a means to remove him in circumstances of significant error."
That's where the battle rages. Even well-informed, solid Catholics who see that the Pope has to either recant his errors or be replaced, do not agree on exactly how this could be done.
Some are saying he can't be convicted of formal heresy as defined by Canon Law, precisely because of his apparently carefully crafted ambiguity. An ambiguous statement cannot be binding doctrinally, because as with any law, it has to be clear exactly what is being included, and what is being excluded. Doubtful statements can not bind. On the other hand, this would also (technically) get Pope Francis off the hook for heresy, since doubtful (ambiguous) statement cannot be heretical.
Thus the significance of the Four Cardinals presenting the "Dubia." Pope Francis has to interpret is own words clearly, one way or the other.
k If he won't? Let's see how Card. Burke undertakes to ratchet up the pressure. I would guess he's a chess player: he hasn't stepped out like this without having his next move well-planned.
Pray for the Pope...and for Burke..and for the Church.
They should just deal directly with the other Pope.
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